Never Look Back
by izziexxx
Summary: I'm sorry I have no time to finish this. I'm really sorry feel free to hunt me down and kill me but this is no more. If you want the rest of the plot email me.
1. when shall we three meet again

_Never look back_

_ i A/N: Hiya this is my first shot at a fanfic. Thanks to Alice.and thanks to amber my wonderfull btea (ok there might be a slight note of sarcasm in the wonder full but she's helpful funny nice and a great pleasure to work with and that's the truth)_

_Disclamer: These are NOT my characters, but I thought of the plot line. It may take me a while and be ever so slightly confusing, but please bear with me and forgive my appalling spelling (I do try, honest Enjoy!)_ i 

"FOR THE LAST TIME, BOY-GET THE DOOR!"

'Does he always have to shout?' thought Harry as he walked into the hallway towards the front door of Number Four, Privet Drive. His uncle was definitely in one of those moods.

The knocking grew more impatient.

"I'm coming, I'm coming! Jeez...," Harry sighed exasperatedly. It was probably just one of his cousin Dudley's cronies come to call.

But, as he opened the door, he was almost toppled over by a flash of fiery red hair and felt a pair of thin arms circle his neck, pulling him into tight hug.

"Harry! I missed you!" the female voiced squeaked into his neck. Ginny Weasley, the youngest and only daughter of the Weasley clan, loosened her hold on him, and gave him a chaste kiss.

"Hey, Harry, I'm here too, you know!"

Harry turned to see his best friend-and Ginny's older brother-Ron Weasley, standing on the front step with slight look of indignation on his face, and couldn't help but laugh. Hermione Granger, his other best friend, was also there, beaming at him from the newly manicured lawn. Harry went over and hugged his best friends, then turned back to Ginny and, wrapping his arms around again, kissed her as if it was as necessary as breathing.

As Hermione took Ron's hand and lead them all into the hallway, Harry saw platinum blond gleam in of the corner of his eye and sighed.

"You can come, too," said Harry. He didn't have to like it, but Malfoy _had_ proven his loyalty to Dumbledore and the Order in their 6th year, and, despite the palpable animosity between them, Harry and Ron had finally accepted him.

'No, not Malfoy, it's Draco now,' Harry chided himself, feeling a bit guilty. Draco was now his trusted, if somewhat reluctant, friend.

"Hello Harry, how are you?" Draco said, as if trying not to aggravate anyone by being too friendly.

Fighting the urge to roll his eyes at Draco's formality, Harry forced a smile. "Fine mate, and you?" He glanced back at the group. "Actually, have you all been having a good summer?"

"All the better now that we're seeing you, Harry," Ginny said, snuggling into his chest. Ron gagged.

Hearing the commotion, Dudley, Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon all filed nervously into the hall. Dudley, looking looked positively ill from his lingering fear of all things magical and from the sight of his cousin kissing a girl, summoned as much wit as he could and he murmured sarcastically, "When's the wedding?"

Oblivious to the rhetorical Muggle saying, Ginny and Ron answered literally, "Six weeks."

Harry smiled at the thought, remembering back to the previous year…

_ i Knowing in his heart that she was his soul mate, he had thrown all pretenses to the wind and decided to ask Ginny to marry him. To hell with the people who thought it was too soon, that they were too young, that they should finish school lfirst-he knew he only had one chance to be happy in his life, short as it may still be due to Voldemort and the prophesy, and he was damned if he was going to let her get away. _

_A trip to Madame Jules' Baubles and Bangles in Hogsmeade and a hefty sum of galleons later, he had a half-carat solitaire Star Diamond (a rare magical stone that glowed with a white sparkly shimmer, even in the dark) and he was ready._

_Christmas Eve at the Burrow, Harry had knelt down in front of the whole Weasley family and, glancing at Mr. Weasley (who had already given his approval) and Ron (who had already proposed to Hermione on her birthday a few months earlier and had, too, given his blessing), asked his love to marry him. She agreed and, after cries of joy and hugs all around (not to mention a reprimand from the frantically happy Mrs. Weasley for not telling her early, too), the girls almost immediately descended into talks of the wedding, deciding quickly to hold a joint wedding celebration for both couples at the Burrow the following summer after graduation. Harry sighed and turned toward Ron, who embraced him and, trying to hide the quaver in his voice, welcomed Harry to the family he always knew he belonged to… i _

Snapping back to the present, Harry noticed this otherwise joyous news had turned Uncle Vernon's face a horrible shade of puce, and it took a great deal of will for Harry not to duck and cover—he knew what was coming.

"WHAT ARE THESE FREAKS DOING IN MY HOUSE!" The walls of Number Four vibrated from the sheer volume of his bellow. Not wanting the house to crumble while he was still inside (after he left was fine), Harry moved quickly to diffuse the situation.

"Actually, why _are_ you here, you lot" Harry asked, looking from his fiancée, whom he was holding protectively in his arms, to his soon-to-be-wed friends and then back again. "Not that I mind," he added, sheepishly.

"Well," Ginny explained, "Since the danger has died down a bit, we thought we'd steal you back to the Burrow for the rest of the summer. Everyone has really missed you. Fred and George have even been holding back some of their newest products so 'their benefactor' can have a first peek."

Dudley, recalling the feeling of being suffocated by his own tongue courtesy of Fred and George's Ton-Tongue Toffee, whimpered in the background. His parents, also remembering, then grabbed him and hurriedly rushed back into the kitchen, shutting the door with an angry slam. Laughing quietly, Harry turned back to his friends.

"I'm staying at the Burrow, too," Hermione chimed. "There is so much still to do—with all flowers and the food and the attire and the cakes—if I left it all up to Ron, it would get done just about as quickly as his History of Magic essays." She glared at her fiancé, who shot her an irritated look. Aware of the imminent argument, Harry changed the subject.

"And how do you figure in, Draco? Hermione and Ginny haven't hooked you into the wedding planning, too, have they?" he said genially.

But, his smile quickly faded as he saw sad, pitying looks cross each of his friends' faces.

Ginny broke the disturbing silence. "Well, after what happened last year, Lucius…," she turned to Draco, silently asking if she should continue. He nodded, looking a bit happier than before, and she continued, with a bit more determination in her voice. "Well, he disowned him. All of his old friends abandoned him, and, with nowhere to live and no friends, we insisted he come stay with us at the Burrow until he can find his own place."

Even though Draco did look better and had a bit more color in his face (due, no doubt, to Mrs. Weasley's molly-coddling) Harry knew better than to press the matter. He knew what it felt like to be rejected, and this was neither the time nor place to talk about such things.

Number Four Privet Drive was very quiet at night, and that's how Harry liked it best. After several minutes of pleading—and, finally, Ron's threat to turn the house into a giant pumpkin-Uncle Vernon had conceded to allow Ginny, Ron, Hermione and Draco to stay the night.

But even with his friends safe and asleep a few feet away, and Ginny snuggled warmly at his side, her arm draped over him and her Star Diamond ring making her face glow angelically, something was nagging at the back of Harry's mind.

Not that this was unusual for him. Last year, it was Voldemort giving him sleepless nights, causing his scar to burn and feeding him horrible nightmares. Tonight, he lay awake for another reason-one he couldn't quite put his finger on.

'Is it Draco?' he thought. It was because of him and his discoveries that Harry was able to weaken Voldemort last term. Harry had been initially suspicious of the Slytherin's sudden desire to help the Order, but, while under the influence of the strongest Veritasyrum Snape could brew, Draco had proven that his intentions were pure. The potion had also let slip that Draco had more feelings for Ginny than Harry was comfortable with, but Harry couldn't change that.

'No, that's not it… Without him, we would all be in danger still… Is it cold feet about the wedding?' he pondered. No, marrying Ginny was one of the only things he was sure about anymore.

Finally dismissing the feeling to restless overexcitement at getting to leave Privet Drive, Harry wrapped his arms around his sleeping bride and let a restful sleep to wash over him.

Somewhere far way, a high-pitched laugh pierced the night like a sword.

_ i Reviews please i _


	2. in thunder lighting or in rain

_A/N: Hello again  I just wanted to clear some things up. I am one of the rare people who believe just because Harry, Ginny and Draco are in the same room doesn't mean that there are going to be fights of jealousy and battles for Ginny's love. (But a battle for Harry's love would be fun, eh?) There may be mild bouts of jealousy but nothing too violent… I don't think muah ha ha ha Enjoy!_

_In thunder, lightning or rain_

'Damn! Not again.'

He couldn't take this anymore. 'Nothing but ceaseless nightmares about half-dead evil warlords,_ crazy ones at that,_'he thought to himself. And, if he managed to push aside the warlord visions, he was left with the realization that his life was in shambles. He felt sad, pathetic and useless.

Maybe, if he had confessed his feelings for her a little earlier, things could have been different.

Tired of tossing and turning, he got up and, wandering the hallways of the silent muggle house, reached the room she was sleeping in. He fought back the urge to just walk in and shake her until she came to her senses, or at least registered his feelings. But, this approach didn't suit him, and he knew it. Sighing heavily, he found his way back to his room and lay back down on the hard mattress.

He was about to go into his seventh and final year at Hogwarts and, to be perfectly honest, he was not looking forward to it at all.

What was there to look forward to, really? After taking his N.E.W.T.S., he would have no place to live and no time to live a happy life. Having helped the Order of the Phoenix last year, his future prospects now rested solely on the downfall of Voldemort. And, in return for his sacrifice, he had lost his youth, innocence, family and home.

'Well,' he thought, 'at least I'm still better off than Potter.'

Potter had already lost his family and was cursed to live in the excruciating presence of muggles. And, while he might be caught up in it, it was really Potter who shouldered all of the responsibility for bringing down the Dark Lord and saving the wizarding world.

But, at least he had her.

At that thought, his silver-grey eyes drew shut and he fell once again into a restless, agitated sleep.

Golden sun peeked in through the window, lighting her hair with such a beautiful honey glow that, looking down on her still sleeping form, he felt luckier than the whole of Ireland.

'She is beautiful and clever and I'm sure we belong together. But-' he thought, hesitating slightly, 'six weeks… Only six weeks!'

He hadn't really given his pending nuptials a thought until blurting out the date yesterday in front of the muggles. 'It is so soon, too soon…'

Passing off the sudden coldness in his feet as the normal wedding planning jitters, he lay back down and cuddled with his fiancée. They could talk about it later, after she woke up.

The next few hours were more than hectic.

Aunt Petunia made no small business of waking each of them up early by banging pots and pans outside their doors. After the rude awakening, they hastened to get Harry packed and out of there as quickly as possible. The second his last bag was plopped on the front steps, Uncle Vernon slammed the door so loudly and quickly behind them that Ginny, who was standing barely a foot away from the doorway, even checked to make sure her long copper locks hadn't gotten caught in the crossfire.

Ten minutes later, the group was safely (if that was even possible) aboard the Knight Bus, careening towards the Burrow so fast that looking out the window was making Harry nauseous.

Taking some deep, calming breaths and trying to force the bile back down his throat, Harry glanced over at Draco, who himself looked close to being sick.

'Poor bloke," Harry thought. He had assumed that each of them had been on the Knight Bus before, but, from the green look of Draco's lips, Harry knew he had never had to travel by such common, uncomfortable means.

In addition to the motion sickness, Harry couldn't think of anyone who was having as hard a time as Draco these days.

Harry wasn't thick. It was clear that Draco missed his old life, even more than Harry missed the wizarding world during his holiday seclusion with the Dursleys. Harry couldn't possibly imagine what it must have been like for Draco being forced away from his mother, the only person who had ever truly loved him. And, though he knew people feared that his reformation was short-lived, Harry knew that underneath the cool façade was a small, scared young boy with naturally bleached hair and frail psyche. And, it was this that made Harry trust him.

The way Draco had looked lately was worlds apart from the Draco he remembered from Hogwarts just a few years earlier. Harry couldn't help it—he sympathized with Draco. He actually felt sorry for the boy who used to be the bane of his existence.

Harry was suddenly stopped in mid-thought-being bodily thrown head-first to the front of the Knight Bus will do that to a person.

"Ottery St. Catchpowle-der Burra!"

As soon as everyone and everything was accounted for and they were all standing, a little worse-for-the-wear, in front of Harry's second home, a part of him started to ache. He had been less than an hour away from calling 12 Grimmauld Place home at the end of his third year when Sirius had invited him to live with him…

They all shuffled inside and settled in, collapsing onto their respective beds, exhausted from the sheer effort of Knight Bus travel-all except Draco, who made a beeline for the bathroom, still sick from the ride.

'My life,' thought Ginny, who was currently curled up against Harry's chest, 'is perfect.'

Even though the previously bright summer day was, at the moment, being punctuated by a howling summer thunderstorm, nothing could be better than being here in front of a warm crackling fire with Harry running his fingers through her long soft hair.

'Well, I can think of something I'd rather be doing,' she thought with a small shudder of pleasure. Ginny had long since made the decision to remain a virgin until her wedding night, but lately she had found herself thinking more dirty thoughts than not. Sure, she thought about how it must seem to outside people, but she knew Harry didn't just want a shag out of this marriage. And, when she had tried, well… _nonverbally_ show him she wanted more, he was the one who had pulled back. He was like her own private chastity belt, telling her things like, "It's just the heat of the moment, love," and "I won't let you do something you may regret."

But, at the moment, the only thing she regretted was still being a virgin.

'I mean, what's the big deal anyway?' she thought. 'I know I had my values before about waiting, but I trust what I feel, and I feel it is time to go further…'

She shifted slightly against Harry's chest. His smell was intoxicating her and that feeling was drifting over her body right to her…

'Damn his impeccable memory and honorable intentions!' her mind yelled. 'Damn my big mouth for being so insistent earlier about wanting to wait.'

But seriously, she reasoned, who knew he was going to be so considerate? Isn't that something she should be happy about?

Ginny was distracted from her thought when she heard a slight pecking against the living room window. Disengaging herself from Harry, to which he protested with a slight groan, she walked over the window, unlatched it and stepped aside as a sopping wet gray owl flew past her and perched itself a few feet from the fire.

Attached to its leg was a roll of blue parchment. Ginny opened it and read the contents.

Harry, admiring the curves of her body in the fading firelight like a fine work of art, jumped up suddenly when he heard her gasp and drop the letter in a fit of frustration.

"What's happened?" Harry said, his defenses now on high alert. "Is it Voldemort?"

Ginny sighed heavily, "No, nothing like that." She picked up the letter and handed it from him.

_Department of Official Wizarding Nuptials _

_Ministry of Magic_

_London_

_To:_

_Mr. Harry Potter and Miss Ginevra Weasley_

_and _

_Mr. Ronald Weasley and Miss Hermione Granger, _

_Dear sirs and misses,_

_As interim head of the Department of Wizarding Nuptials, it is my duty to regretfully inform you that, with the sudden magical incapacitation of Elgar Triller, the former head of the Department of Official Wizarding Nuptials and scheduled reverend elder for your August 14 joint wedding ceremony, the department has no alternative choice other than to cancel setceremony._

_It is highly suggested by the Reverend Elder Council, the Department of Wizarding Nuptials and myself that you consider rescheduling to better fit the availability of another reverend elder or Wizengamot chairholder, who, while certainly having less experience and tighter schedules, are perfectly qualified to perform wizard weddings._

_We understand that your are currently enrolled at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and have informed Headmaster Albus Dumbledore of the situation, to which he immediately volunteered to perform the joint ceremony during Hogwarts Christmas Holiday free of charge._

_We certainly apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and are sending out a full monetary reimbursement for your troubles._

_Sincearly_

_Mellinda Grethwrite_

He stood there for a few moments in stunned silence. The wedding had been canceled? And now Dumbledore was going to marry them? And over Christmas break?

"Do Hermione and Ron know yet?" he asked. Ginny shrugged.

Just picturing Hermione and Ron's polar opposite reactions to this situation was, well, fairly comical to Harry and, without so much as an opening giggle, he burst out in loud laughs, he eyes tearing up.

Ginny seemed to understand and, soon, they were both collapsing on the couch, out of breath and still chuckling softly.

"So," Ginny said, "Who's going to tell them?"

i a/nI just thought I'd say that this is proberbly slightly different the one I would recomened reading is the version on this is good but not my final version (this goes for mosta my chappies /i 


	3. when the hurley burleys done

When the Hurley Burleys Done…

i Way hay! I'm flying. I just added a chapter, like not too long ago and I've already started on another I have a small holiday so I can write in my spare time! You see I'm only 15. For all you British people yes I am doing my G.C.S.Es, therefore my beta Am is a godsend  She has helped me loads (almost too much I feel guilty for taking up her precious time). Any way she rocks.

Ok, yeah, yeah, not mine. Blah, blah, blah. All JKR's.

On with the story! /i 

After a quick debate, Ginny and Harry decided that they would tell Hermione and Ron the news about their wedding officiant all together. "More witnesses that way, in case Hermione throws a fit and a curse goes awry," said Ginny before stifling her giggles and approaching her brother and his fiancée.

To say that Hermione was furious would be a dramatic understatement. Harry wondered if there was anyone in Ottery St. Catchpole who i hadn't /i heard her dulcet tones screaming about the sudden change in their wedding plans.

Draco had burst in, and Hermione's rant about "daft Ministry wedding officials" had promptly set him back outside, mumbling something about "bloody emotional women."

Mrs. Weasley rushed in next and, upon hearing the news between Hermione sobs, she made them all cups of her finest tea (mixed with some healthy shots of fire whiskey all around), and things calmed down significantly.

The girls went back to their planning and, after sending Professor Dumbledore an owl accepting his offer to marry them, they quickly decided that, in the wake of recent events, it was probably best if they held their joint wedding during the Christmas holidays, when all of their families could be there to celebrate.

But, Harry didn't think that there was really much to do anymore. After all, nothing is more beautiful than Hogwarts at Christmas.

-

Apart from one or two tears as the previous date for the wedding came and went, the rest of the summer seemed to breeze by for the five friends.

Hermione had not only managed to get the wedding planning back on track, but she had completed all of her homework assignments, perfected a few more spells for Transfiguration, written all of her extra credit essays and even had time leftover to knit some cutesy elf clothes and catch up on her non-wedding reading.

While Ginny managed to tear herself from her schoolwork during the afternoons, Ron and Harry stayed up late every night as the approaching school year loomed ever closer. And it wasn't for a lack of trying. Harry and Ron had decided to go ahead with their plans to become Aurors, which meant they were taking N.E.W.T.-level classes across the board, including Potions.

"Come on," Ron complained almost nightly. "How much information can you write about bloody moonstones and powdered unicorn horn?"

Draco, who was always proficient at Potions, could be seen quietly studying in a corner of the Burrow's living room, every once in a while yelling out, "Stop your damn complaining Weasley, it's only a two-foot essay!"

Harry had grown to like Draco a little more, and even laughed sometimes at his and Ron's arguments.

A few weeks before Sept. 1, their owls from Hogwarts arrived.

Hermione, who was anxiously awaiting her letter one morning before breakfast, jumped up from the kitchen table and almost scared the owl away as she raced towards it and skidded to a stop. She tore it open, and her eyes lit up immediately and a happy cry escaped her lips.

Ron lumbered into the kitchen at that moment and was almost sent crashing back into the doorway as Hermione smothered him with a big hug.

"Oh, I guess Hogwarts letters are here," he laughed as Harry, Ginny and Draco sidestepped behind him.

Hermione disengaged from Ron and said loudly, "I got head girl!"

"Oh Hermione, that's brilliant," Ron exclaimed brightly. "Pass me my letter, will you please, Harry?"

Harry had just sat back down to open his letter when he heard the loud tinkle of glass breaking. Looking up, Ron had gone completely rigid and white, his coffee now swirling in the broken mug shards on the floor.

"Oh hell…," Ron whispered, then his mouth broke out into a large grin. "I am Head Boy… Oh man, Fred and George will never let me live it down."

The rest of them jumped up from their chairs and took turns hugging and congratulating Ron. Hermione squealed and warned him not to goof off all in one long breath, and Draco shook his hand stiffly.

A few years before, Harry was sure he would have felt a strong surge of jealousy at Ron's good news, but right now this was Ron's moment to shine, having been bestowed Hogwarts' highest honor, and Harry just beamed at him.

"Ahh you have your letters I see," said Mrs. Weasley as she bustled in behind them all to start cooking breakfast. "Well, hand them to me and I'll…Oh Ron, what did you do?" She stared pointedly at the broken coffee cup.

Ron shrugged and, trying to conceal his giddy smile, gave his letter to his mother.

She cast another disapproving look at her son and, reading his letter, let her own coffee mug fall to the floor with a gasp.

"Oh Ron! Oh, I'm so proud of you!" she grabbed her tall son around the neck and hugged him fiercely. She turned and hurried out to get Mr. Weasley, who came in and shook Ron's hand proudly.

"Well done, son," said Mr. Weasley.

After that, the day went by without incident. Ron had been promised another gift for making Head Boy, and Mrs. Weasley had cooked a grand feast in celebration for Hogwarts' new Head Boy and Girl.

As he lay back down to bed, Harry took in the events of the day and was glad that he hadn't told anyone what his letter had said—he had been made captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team. 'I can tell them all later…' he yawned and, curling his body around Ginny's sleeping form, he fell into a content sleep.

When they got to Platform 9 ¾ on September the 1st, there were happy tears all around. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley took their turns hugging each of their "children," and even made a point to include Draco in their goodbyes. Harry watched curiously as Draco hugged Mrs. Weasley and quietly thanked Mr. Weasley for his hospitality. Mr. Weasley did an odd thing then—he embraced Draco and said he was always welcome to stay at the Burrow. Not knowing quite what to do, Harry watched Draco slowly disappear in the growing crowd of students gathering at the platform.

Ron and Hermione bid goodbye to the group and set off for the prefects' car, though Ron promised Harry that they would visit as soon as all of the "ickle prefects" had been told what to do. But, Harry certainly didn't mind having to share a car with his fiancée for a few hours.

During the ride, he and Ginny were visitied—er, interrupted—by many of their friends from school, including Neville Longbottom, Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan. No one yet knew that Ginny and Harry or Hermione and Ron were engaged…and both couples, after consulting about it on the train, were happy to keep it that way, at least to avoid the disapproving stares and questions. They all agreed to keep it secret until after the holidays.

When the Hogwarts Express screeched to a halt at Hogsmeade Station later that night, Harry followed Ginny and Draco toward a carriage, stopping to pat the thestral lightly on the neck. When Ron and Hermione showed up, though, they both looked slightly disheveled, as if they hadn't just been herding first years.

Harry smiled to himself. Sure, it wasn't setting a proper example for Ginny for Ron to go off and snog behind the carriages, but Harry didn't really think it was Ron who determined what Ginny did or didn't do. Besides, after the constant interruptions on the train, Harry wouldn't have minded a little snog session with his favorite copper-haired girl. He felt her small hand squeeze his thigh suggestively and knew she felt the same way.

Harry finally felt at home as he entered the Great Hall for the Sorting Ceremony and the feast.

A moment after they all sat down, Draco back over at the Slytherin table, the first years shuffled in with professor McGonagall, who was carrying the old and tatty sorting hat, and the sorting began as "Appleby, Helen" was sorted into Ravenclaw.

Harry stopped paying attention to the ceremony after "Duckworth, David" was sorted into Hufflepuff. He was starving and was just about to tell Ron so when he noticed something amiss—an older girl with short, cropped black hair and pouty lips was standing among the first-years as if she was waiting to be sorted. She looked very self-conscious, and her dark purple eyes (from what Harry could tell) kept glancing down at her feet.

'She has more, er, i older /i features to her body, more curves… and those eyes, wow,' he thought, unconsciously giving her the once-over. 'Close to my age, most likely.'

Leaning over to Ron and Ginny, he whispered, "Oi, who's that girl over there? She can't be a first-year."

Ron glanced over quickly, looked her up and down as well, and motioned to Hermione, who had also noticed her. Hermione, though, had a strange look on her face as she mumbled, "No…no it can't be her…"

When the last first-year was sorted in Ravenclaw, and only the older girl was left, Dumbledore stood grandly and addressed the students, who were now all whispering about the newcomer.

"If I may have your attention," he asked as silence fell in the hall. "Our final student to be sorted tonight has transferred to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry from the esteemed Beauxbatons Academy in France, under headmistress Madame Maxime." Hagrid gave Harry a shy grin. "Thus, as any new student must, she will be sorted into an appropriate house. Professor McGonagall, please continue."

The hall waited in silent anticipation.

"Westlock, Rose," announced McGonagall loudly.

Hermione's hands flew to her mouth, her gasp was audible.

The hat contemplated nearly a whole minute before yelling, "Gryffindor!" and Rose shyly made her way over to the Gryffindor table amid the rounds of applauds and hoots from Dean and Seamus.

Hermione was about to speak to the new girl when Dumbledore once again rose.

"My old friends and new acquaintances, I am very pleased to welcome you all, and I quite happy indeed to see that everyone seems to have made it back in one piece." There was a slight pause while the giggling died down, although Harry, Ron and Draco (who was now openly staring at Rose Westlock) did not laugh, understanding how serious a situation was implied by his words.

"As always, the forest is out-of-bounds to all students unless accompanied by an adult. And, for the first time in a long while, I am proud to say that the school has managed to keep the same Defense Against the Dark Arts' teacher two years running." At that, all students who were 3rd year or above burst out in fits of laughter. All, that is, except Rose, who, like the younger students, had not been around long enough to appreciate the humor.

"To all who do not know the school rules I'm sure that you prefects will fill you in. Should you have any questions, I'm sure our new Head Boy and Head Girl would be more than happy to help. I could continue…but, alas, I will not. Now it is time to feast."

As the Great Hall emptied following dinner, Hermione got up and-keeping one eye on the mysterious Rose Westlock, who was talking animatedly with Pavarti and Lavender-she and Ron led the newest Gryffindors up to the dormitory.

"First-years, please proceed up to your dormitories. Girls are down the hall on the left; boys are down the hall to your right. These will be your rooms for the next seven years at Hogwarts, so do try to keep them clean," Hermione said, relishing her authority. "Oh, Rose! Can I talk to you for a moment?"

Rose looked up and saw Hermione for the first time. Her eyes got very wide, and she stuttered out with a very slight French accent, "Yes, I-I'll talk to you both later, then?"

"Well, we'll see you in the dorm, seeing as how it's our room, too," giggled Lavender, and she and Pavarti walked upstairs.

Rose turned back to Hermione, who was smiling brightly at her, and it finally clicked.

"Oh my goodness, Hermione!" Rose cried out in happiness. She reached forward and the two girls embraced like long-lost sisters. "You're a witch, too! Oh, I can't believe it's really you!"

Hermione steered her best friend from muggle grammar school to the squashy couch by the fire. "Rose, I couldn't believe my eyes in the Great Hall! I have so many questions for you! When did you find out you were a witch? Why didn't you come to Hogwarts with me? How is your family doing? Wait, is your family a wizarding family?"

Laughing and not taking her eyes off Hermione, Rose answered, "In proper order: I found out I was a witch during the summer right after I turned 11. It was quite a surprise, actually, considering my parents are muggles."

"Mine too!" Hermione chimed in.

"Well, I was scheduled to go to Hogwarts, but my parents-who are fine, by the way-had an opportunity in France and, since I was going away to school anyways, my dad decided to take it. But, that meant me having to transfer before I even started to Beauxbatons Academy in France. And, I'm back here now because my dad was transferred back to England, and only wizards and witches from France are permitted at Beauxbatons." She paused for a breath. "So, what about you? It's so exciting to have a friend here!"

"Oh, I missed you so much!" Hermione said with another laugh. "It was so hard here at Hogwarts at first without any friends… I come from a muggle family too, and I was told the same way you were. Oh, what an amazing coincidence that would have been to have my old best friend at Hogwarts with me! I can't wait to tell mum and dad, they will be so thrilled to be able to talk to your parents about all the weird things they see me do all the time!"

"Why didn't you ever write to me? It's so strange how we both sort-of forgot about each other…" Rose trailed off. "I didn't have many friends at Beauxbatons…"

"Oh, I'm sorry, Rosie," Hermione said, using her old nickname. "Things just got kind-of crazy, and, to tell you the truth, I didn't trust myself not to mention all of the fabulous things that were happening to me. I would have wanted to tell you all about Quidditch and my wand and all of my adventures… But, there's certainly enough time now, I'll tell you everything."

"That would be wonderful, Hermione," Rose gushed. "And perhaps tomorrow you could introduce to people and help me to my classes?"

"Of course, and I wouldn't worry about not having any friends here at Hogwarts. The Gryffindors are the nicest bunch, my friends are absolutely wonderful and will take you in immediately, and I know of a certain Slytherin who I think would be pleased to meet you, seeing as how he was staring at you all through dinner!"

"Oh, go on then," Rose blushed. "Thank you Hermione, I really appreciate it."

"No problem," Hermione smiled. "OK, well you need to get up to bed seeing as how it's after hours and I might just give you a detension, seeing as how I'm Head Girl and all."

They both laughed heartily again, and Rose trucked up the stairs to bed.

"Well," Hermione said out loud to the empty Common Room. "What a great way to start the year!"

A/N I don't know about how this is going… as I think I said before too many exam s and cource work I'm a woman under pressure!(ok I'll admit it I'm a little girl you going to make something of itglares at invisible person who she thinks is taking the mick.) any way it works cheers


	4. when the battle's lost and won

b When the battles lost and won… /b 

i A/N—Sorry it's taken me so long to update! I've been sooo busy lately. I promise all will be explained soon! 

On a completely different note: Can you guess where I'm getting my chapter titles from yet? If you can good for you, you obviously know your literature. I'm studying it in school and it's soo boring!

Standard disclaimer time! It's not mine (I wish it was…but its not). /i 

Rose woke up early the next day with a smile on her face. Having someone she knew so well at Hogwarts with her was an extremely comforting thought, and suddenly she wasn't quite as nervous about starting her first day.

She climbed out of bed quietly, careful as not to wake the other girls, and rooted through her trunk. Soon she found what she was looking for-the little photo book with the dark purple leather cover and the gold-leaf imprint "Hermione and Rosie-Friends Forever"

Rose smiled at the oft-surprising hand of fate as she flipped through the album. How true that inscription had turned out to be, despite several years spent apart. Rose had to admit that Hermione looked very differently from that little 9-year-old she remembered. Her hair, though with the same fluffy bounce, was longer now and tamer than the bushy pigtails of her youth. And, for some reason, her smile looked much different… She'd have to ask Hermione about that one.

She flicked through the still photos of them playing at her parent's house at the shore, hugging on their first day of junior school, and sitting on a park bench at Oxford at one or their parent's gaudy days.

But, somehow she was still the same Hermione, and she was still the same Rose. So many memories left behind, and such a great chance to create more.

Rose was beginning to think that life at Hogwarts wasn't going to be that bad.

Hermione washed up with a definite bounce in her step. Not only did she have her own room as Head Girl, but she was excited to get down to breakfast. This i was /i her final year at Hogwarts, and she had just met up with a long-lost childhood friend!

'This is going to be a wonderful year, I can just tell!' she smiled happily to herself as she combed out her damp hair and straightened her tie. She left her top two shirt buttons undone, though.

'Can't be too stuck up, now can I?' she giggled. 'Oh yes, this is definitely going to be fun.'

She made her way to the Gryffindor common room. She was just mentally listing all the people she would have to introduce Rose to and all the lessons she would probably need help with, when Rose came almost skipping down the stairs to meet Hermione, her cropped black hair pulled into a small ponytail at the nape of her neck and her uniform crisp and clean. The girls beamed at each other and settled into the couch with pleasant small talk.

A few minutes later, Ginny stumbled into the common room from the direction of her dormitory, with her hair haphazardly piled high on her head and her uniform slightly wrinkled. Hermione giggled and whispered that Ginny was not quite a morning person.

Ginny yawned and plopped on the couch next to Hermione, who immediately introduced her to Rose and told her the strange coincidence of how she ended up at Hogwarts.

"That's so strange!" Ginny exclaimed, now fully awake. "You two were friends from forever ago, and here you both are again. Well, you know what they say-any friend of Hermione's is a friend of mine!"

Rose smiled a shy but thankful smile, but inside she was thrilled to have met such a wonderful person on her very first day. From what she could tell, Ginny was very bubbly and perhaps a bit mischievous. She herself had a bit of a wild streak in her, and she could tell the three of them were all going to be good friends.

Ginny and Hermione went on talking and filling her in on all the basic gossip of Hogwarts, most secret of which were their upcoming wedding plans.

"You're getting married! Really? That's wonderful!" Rose said excitedly.

"Thanks," Hermione smiled. "But please don't tell anyone. I don't want to have to justify myself or my soon-to-be sister-in-law to every single person who isn't as understanding as you."

"Well, as well you shouldn't," Rose concurred. "Don't worry. I won't tell. Now, seeing as how you are both taken, do you think you could at least introduce me to some nice, single guys around here?

"Well, I just happened to notice that a very handsome Slytherin was staring at you all through dinner last night," Ginny teased.

"Oh?" Rose asked, unconsciously smoothing her hair back and straightening her uniform.

"Oh yes," Ginny continued. "Draco can be… well, he can certainly be charming when he wants to be, and he is dead gorgeous…"

"We have a bit of a mixed history with him," Hermione explained. "But we all trust him now. I'll point him out at breakfast."

Just then, a very rumpled pair of boys entered the room from the direction of the Head Boy's dorm.

"Having a nice little sleepover, were you lot?" Ginny giggled, and the three girls laughed.

Ron waved off the tease. "Oh, come off it," he said, bending to kiss Hermione's cheek. "Harry wanted to check it out and ended up kipping on the floor." Turning to Rose, he asked, "Now, who is going to introduce me to our newest Gryffindor?" He took her hand, bent it up and pecked a chivalrous kiss.

"He's a charmer, that one," Rose said to Hermione, who rolled her eyes dramatically. "I'm Rose Westlock. Pleased to meet you. And you are…"

"Ronald Weasley," he smiled, gently pulling Hermione to her feet and noticing her open shirt buttons with a sly grin. He pointed behind himself and said, "And that lump over there smothering my sister is Harry Potter. Oi!"

Harry and Ginny broke apart from their good-morning kiss and blushed.

"Harry Potter, eh? Sounds familiar," said Rose with a furrowed brow.

Harry audibly sighed. "Most likely is. It's a long story; I'll tell you sometime."

"No, that's not what I meant…," Rose frowned. "It's almost like I know you from somewhere, like we've met before..."

She and Harry locked eyes and stared at each other for a few seconds, while the others looked on in complete confusion.

"That is strange…," Harry mused. "Now that I'm thinking about it, I think we have met before, but I can't think of where…"

They stared for another few seconds before Ron broke the silence.

"Uh, let's head down to breakfast, then, shall we?"

Like a spell had been broken, Rose and Harry blinked and turned back to the group.

"Yes, lets," Rose said brightly, taking Hermione's arm in hers and leading them all out the portrait hole and into the corridor. "And, you can fill me in about your 'mixed history' with this dashing Draco chap along the way."

"Oh no, absolutely not!" Ron burst, rounding on Hermione. "You cannot set up a beautiful girl like that with that slimy ferret git!"

"Ron!" Hermione chastised. "Watch your mouth! Draco has proved himself over and over, and I will not let your overprotective tendencies spread over onto Rose, no matter how flattered I'm sure she is!"

The pair continued to argue loudly, and Rose, totally embarrassed that she caused a fight between the couple, shrunk back with Harry and Ginny.

"Don't worry, they do this all the time," Harry whispered. "It's best to let them have at each other once or twice a day. I think that's why they love each other so much, honestly. Totally bonkers, they are."

Rose smiled. "I didn't realize Draco was such a sore topic."

"Well," Harry sighed, "It's a very long story. You see, for the first five years we knew Draco, he was a slimy ferret git, just like Ron said. He lived to make our lived miserable. He called Hermione rotten names, made fun of Ron's family and hexed me every chance he got. It was a mutual hate, though."

"But now you are all mates? I'm confused."

"Well it all started about April last year I think. You see, Draco's family is pureblood, and the worst kind. It's common knowledge around here that his parents are Death Eaters, and, as a sweet-sixteen present, his father, Lucius-"

Rose gasped, "Not Lucius Malfoy!" Harry nodded. "Oh, he's awful. He made the French news all the time. Rich man bent on ruling the world, that one. And he's Draco's dad? Wow."

"Well, that's not the worst of it, I'm afraid," Ginny said. "Like Harry said, Draco turned 16, and, as a gift, his dad brought him before Lord Voldemort for a surprise Death-Eater inauguration. Draco was given the dark mark against his will and, as soon as he got back to Hogwarts, he went straight to Dumbledore and asked to have it removed. Dumbledore managed to get most of the dark magic out of the mark but wasn't able to completely remove it, so he still has the brand on his forearm."

Harry cut in. "Yeah, I guess Draco pledged his allegiance to Dumbledore that night, and Professor Snape was called in to administer the strongest Veritasyrum he could brew to Draco. Turns out he was telling the truth. But, seeing as how he wasn't secretkeeper for Voldemort's hiding place, he had to trick his father, who was the secretkeeper, into telling him the location of the next meeting. Lucius gave Draco the information, and Draco gave it to Dumbledore.

"The meeting was, of course, raided by Ministry Aurors, Dumbledore, me, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Draco and a few… well, others. We managed to capture some Death Eaters, and some were killed in the battle. Unfortunately, some of the more powerful Death eaters managed to get away, Lucius included."

Rose gasped again.

"Yeah, it was too bad, too. Draco had him cornered and, in his utter rage, started to cast i Avada Kedavra /i , but stray jinx knocked him out of the way before he could finish and Lucius managed to apparate."

"And Voldemort?" Rose asked with a squeak.

"He got away, too," Harry said angrily. "We managed to hit him with a few spells, but they only slowed him down. And, this past summer, Lucius was obviously right disappointed and completely disowned Draco, which is why he is staying with the Weasleys and we all had to learn to put up with him. He has gotten much better though-almost a completely different guy."

"That is quite a story," she said, completely breathless, with a small smile. "He sounds so brave to have faced he daemons like that head on. It must have been absolutely awful for him. Oh, I certainly can't wait to meet him now! So, if you are all friends, what's that all about then?" She motioned to the still-arguing Hermione and Ron, who both turned and quieted down when they realized they were being stared at.

"Sorry," they muttered together.

"Well…" Harry said. "Some of us still haven't grown to trust him, but I can assure you that, while he may still be a little snobbish, but he is perfectly fine. Dumbledore cast some pretty old magic on him to keep him safe, so I wouldn't worry about that either… Hello, there he is now. Oi! Draco!"

Rose turned quickly and came face-to-face with the most handsome boy-no, man-she had ever seen.

His eyes were a deep grey-blue, and his white-blonde hair was short and soft. He stood a head taller than she was, and had a confident air about him that was absolutely magnetic. A bemused smile was playing on lips, and she found she couldn't look away.

His eyes bore into hers. Neither heard Harry introducing them to each other.

His masculine scent filled her nostrils and her felt herself get a little dizzy. She reached up and placed a hand on his chest to steady herself.

He immediately covered her hand with his, his eyes never leaving hers and his smile fading into a more serious look.

She ran her eyes over him. Was this the man who faced his own father in a duel? Was this the man traded away his money and wealth to do the right thing?

She was absolutely entranced and wasn't thinking straight anymore. Without a single word, she leaned forward and closed her eyes.

Their lips met in searing kiss, one that he readily returned. His lips were sweet and he tasted of peppermint…

Suddenly, the whole world came rushing back to her and she realized she was doing.

She pushed against his chest and they broke apart, which she realized was a little difficult to do. When had wrapped his arm around her waist?

Rose whirled around and saw that not only were Hermione, Ginny, Ron and Harry gaping at them with open mouths, but a few students had stopped to stare as well.

She turned back to Draco, who was looking around as well, the smile back on his lips.

"I... Oh, I am so sorry, I don't know what came over me just then…," she stuttered, trying to push back her embarrassment. There was no taking it back now, and she had liked it. "I'm Rose, by the way, Rose Westlock." She held out her hand.

"No, please, it was my fault," Draco said, taking her hand in his and holding it. "I'm Draco Malfoy."

"I know who you are," she said, still a little dazed.

Ron started to make a move toward Draco and, thankfully, Hermione held him back and cleared her throat loudly. "Well, now that you two have, um, met… Draco, would you like to have breakfast with us this morning?"

Draco eyes still didn't leave Rose's. "That would be lovely, Hermione. Thank you."

Ginny stepped forward and grabbed one of Rose's arms. "We'll meet you in there, boys. We just have to run to the loo," Ginny said, steering her toward the first floor bathroom.

The girls bustled through the door and Hermione turned to Rose. "Please explain to me what just happened out there."

"Oh, my god, Hermione, I honestly don't know! I just saw him and those eyes… and something came over me!"

"Well," Ginny said. "I think, at least, you made a good impression on him!"

They all laughed.

"OK, that wasn't exactly how I had thought that was going to happen, but it's fine," Hermione said, glancing in the mirror briefly and straightening her tie again. "Rose, do you really like him?"

"Because if you do, that's really great," Ginny said quickly.

Rose thought for a moment. "Well, he is gorgeous, and I would like to see him again … Yes, I think I do, actually!"

The girls all shared a little squeal and squeezed each other's hands.

"But, let's not go planning a triple wedding now, OK?" Rose giggled again. "If I am going to do this with him, I'd like to do it right."

"Deal," echoed Hermione and Ginny, and the girls set off en masse back to the Great Hall.

-

Harry had to physically hold Ron back.

"What the hell do you think you are doing, Malfoy!" Ron growled. "Is that how you normally go around saying hello?"

"Calm the bloody hell down, Weasley," Draco said with a smirk. "You heard her, she kissed me-not that I minded at all." His fingers brushed his lips. "She is beautiful. Rose was her name, eh?"

Harry tried to an unbiased approach. After all, had it been Ron, he'd have patted him on the shoulder. "So, Draco…," he said as they walked over to the Gryffindor table. "She's a nice girl. Let's not go breaking any hearts, eh?"

"Oi, Potter, I have no intention of breaking her heart," Draco smirked again. "I'd actually like to get to know her, see her again. It's a wicked girl who'll kiss you without saying two words to you first."

Ron growled again, and Harry kicked him under the table.

Ron sighed. "OK, if no one's going to ask"-he shot Harry an irritated glance-"how was it?"

Draco laughed for the first time in months. "Weasley, wouldn't you like to know?"

Just then, the girls sat down at the table next to them, and Rose took the seat next to Draco. Her hand gently brushed his thigh and, without anyone else seeing, Draco quickly took it in his. They looked at each other and smiled shyly.

The tension eventually broke, and they all fell into lively conversations, the guys about Quidditch and the girls about their new schedules.

Rose had morning transfiguration with Hermione, Ron and Harry, then they all had Care of Magical Creatures outside together after lunch. Ginny groaned about being left out again, but as she was only a Sixth Year, it was not to be helped.

When they all made to get up, Draco held Rose back and, with her back to his chest, leaned in and whispered that he would like to see her again soon and would she please meet him near the main doors before lunch.

She shivered and nodded. He placed small kiss on the back of her neck and got up from the table. They walked to the doors of the Great Hall and said another shy good-bye.

Jogging to catch up to Hermione, Rose thought, 'Wow! This really is definitely going to be a fun year!'

-

Rose thoroughly enjoyed her morning classes ("Much better than Beauxbatons," she whispered to Hermione during in break in Professor McGonagall's lecture), and soon it was time to meet up with Draco.

Hermione whispered, "Good Luck!" and squeezed her hand, and Rose set off for the main doors.

-

Draco was standing at the Main doors waiting for Rose, thoughts of this morning running through his head.

It's true, she had been the one to kiss him, but aside from being caught off guard, he really liked it. It had been a long time since anyone had showed outward affection for him.

He could still feel her lips on his. She had tasted minty, like she had just brushed her teeth. He hadn't needed to say anything to her either and had readily accepted her lips when she offered them to him… And those eyes… those violet eyes had completely entranced him. They were beautiful, like a purple quartz, all sparkling and full of life.

'OK, Draco, pull yourself together. She's just a girl, nothing special…,' he tried to convince himself.

But then he saw her approaching him, her dark hair pulled back, her lips pink and wet, and uniform school-girl perfect, he knew there was no hope. He was already falling for her-this girl he had barely met.

She stopped and smiled at him. "So… that was quite an introduction this morning."

"Yes, it was," he answered. "I must say, you are quite enchanting." She blushed. "Would you like to come for a walk with me out on the grounds? I'll show you around before our next class."

"Yes, I'd like that, I think-just as long as we can stop in and grab a sandwich before we go," she said with a wink. "I'm famished."

He agreed, and soon they were down by the lake, watching the giant squid sun itself in the shallows. Draco had brought her to a very secluded spot where he said he usually came to think. He spread out his cloak for her to sit on in the grass, and she insisted that he join her. Their shoulders were touching, but neither seemed to mind as they each took turns getting to know each other.

"That is a coincidence that you and Hermione were friends before Hogwarts. And, both being from muggle parentage, I can image it's extremely rare," Draco said after she had told him about herself for a bit. "Mother always fancied that Beauxbatons would be a fine school for me to attend, but father had absolutely refused. Hogwarts was the only school they could both agree wasn't terrible."

Rose didn't know quite what to say. Did he want to talk about his parents?

"Draco, I'm sorry to hear about what happened with your parents. Harry told me about it earlier, and I just think it's awful," she said finally.

"Awful for whom?" he said with a laugh. "Trust me, I am much better off nowadays. I don't have to live in that huge, empty mansion, all alone with no one but the House Elves to talk to… I don't have to attend stuffy parties with only my parents' friends… I don't have to be awful to people just because of where they come from…"

His voice trailed away and he draped a casual arm around her shoulders. Leaning in, he said quietly, "And, I don't have to pretend to fancy people just because of who their parents are…"

She turned to look at him. His hand brushed across her cheek, and he said in a low voice, "I can choose to fancy someone because she is beautiful, charming, and…"

He suddenly couldn't take it anymore. He pulled her toward him and crushed his lips to hers. She moaned a little and immediately deepened the kiss, which only made him want her more.

His body was responding to hers, and, with no knowledge of how he'd gotten there, they were laying down on his cloak, his weight pressing down on her petite form deliciously and her arms wound tightly around his back, holding him in place.

She pulled back slightly and breathed, "I can't believe we're doing this, I barely know you…," but he was already attacking her neck with little sucks and bites. She moaned again and it only spurred him to ravage her mouth again.

"Wait…," she breathed a few minutes later. "We have to… to … to get to the lesson…"

His eyes bore into hers with what he hoped was dark desire. "I couldn't possibly go now," he groaned, shifting himself again against her leg. "If you insist on going, I'm afraid I'm going to have to stay behind and… take care of some things."

She giggled a bit. "Well, Mr. Malfoy. You do drive a hard"—she rubbed her leg up and down, causing him to bit his lip—"bargain, but I do believe Hermione will kill me twice if I skip my first day's classes."

She pulled him down for one last, long kiss before moving to get up.

"So, I'll see you later then?" she said, straightening her uniform.

"Count on it."

And with that, she turned and walked back toward the castle, leaving Draco with a broad grin on his face.

_A/N the last bit was kinda my idea but amber made it 500 better(is that even possible?)she wrote a lot of it expanding on my pathetic ideas!_

'_Ooooo what happens next?' I hear you cry (no wait that's just my alter ego…)you'll have to wait to find out_.


	5. that'll be ere the set of sun

b That 'ill be ere the set of sun /b 

i A/N did you guess (see last chapters authors notes)? It was the witch's speech from Macbeth. I'm trying to incorporate the titles somewhere in each chapter (e.g. the famous trio meet again in the first chapter, it rains in the second chapter, there is much hustling and bustling in the third chapter). OK, on with the story. /i 

Draco watched Rose practically float the whole way to Hagrid's hut.

He had decided to completely skip Care of Magical Creatures before they had even left on their walk. He might be a '"good guy" now, but he still thought Hagrid was a poor teacher. He'd learn more reading the book, granted, if it didn't bite his fingers off.

Draco heaved a great sigh. 'Blimey, that girl is fantastic,' he thought, absentmindedly stroking himself. 'I can't wait to see her again. She alone is worth being respectable.'

A few minutes later, he was still disappointed that Rose left, but was much more presentable. He stood up, zipped up his pants, shook the particles of dirt from his white-blonde locks and made his way back up to the castle to take a shower.

Rose had barely made it through the Care of Magical Creatures lesson (to which she had shown up with about 30 seconds to spare) without absolutely bursting. She had filled Hermione in on the complete snog session on the way to their next class, Potions.

Normally, mixing and concocting potions was fascinating to her, but she just couldn't get herself to focus on anything other than beautiful grey-blue eyes, half-lidded in passion, and thick, wet lips…

She felt a hard job in her ribs and saw Hermione motion up to the teacher, a particularly pale bloke with stringy black hair.

"Miss Westlock!" he bellowed at her, spittle collecting in the corners of his mouth. "I will not make exceptions even for new students, so get your head out of the clouds before I put you in detention."

Rose lowered her eyes and mumbled an apology.

The professor snarled and began to lecture again on the importance of following the directions very carefully. The Invigoration Draught would cause a slightly more potent reaction than the muggle drug caffeine, but a slight mix-up could cause complete insomnia and possible dementia. With a wave of his hand, the ingredients appeared on the board, and the class quietly got to work.

"Rose, what are you doing?" Hermione hissed a few minutes later, grabbing her hand for the third time. "The bicorn horns had to be powdered, not just ground, and added in small pinches!"

She looked down at her cauldron and, instead of the deep navy blue she was expecting, her draught had turned a bright pink. Rose cursed under her breath and, being a relative whiz in potions, was able to right it without Hermione's help and before that git professor noticed.

'Damn,' she thought. 'I have to get Draco out of my head! I have to get the thought of his strong hands sliding over my lower back and my bum…' She shivered and pushed the image out of her mind forcefully.

Focusing completely on the directions (and pointing out that the Potions Master had made a small error in measurement in the directions, much to Harry and Ron's delight), Rose got through the rest of the lesson with ease. Hermione was noticeably impressed and silently beamed at her friend.

Snape had insisted that they sample their partner's draught, thus the class was almost literally bouncing off the walls. Thus, he released them five minutes early, claiming that he "could no longer stand the sight of them," and the class nearly ran out of the room.

"So, that was Professor Snape, eh?" Rose asked Harry as they all nearly jogged back up to Gryffindor Tower to drop their bags off before dinner.

"Yeah. Pleasant bloke, isn't he?' Harry said sarcastically. "He is hard on everyone not from Slytherin house. Don't worry about it."

"Meanwhile, you never told us you were a genius in potions!" Ron exclaimed. "You are going to give Hermione a run for her money! Can I be your partner in our next class?"

Hermione and Rose laughed and linked their arms. "Oh, I hardly think I deserve that," Rose said. "If it wasn't for Hermione showing me how to mix a proper mud pie when we were babies, I wouldn't have a clue!"

Catching up with Ginny in the Common Room, the five of them headed down to the Great Hall. Rose immediately noticed that her favourite Slytherin was seated at the Gryffindor table again, saving them seats.

"Ah, Draco," Ron said sarcastically. "To what do we owe this pleasure?"

"Shut it, Weasley," he answered in a silky voice. "I'm certainly not here to see you." He placed a chaste kiss on Rose's cheek and helped her sit down. "My girlfriend needs someone to shield her from the sheer amount of food you sputter everywhere when you eat."

Harry, Hermione and Ginny all snorted into their pumpkin juice, so true was Draco's comment about Ron's abysmal manners. Even Ron chuckled. "Good one, Malfoy, I'll have to remember that."

Fortunately, they weren't assigned much homework their first day, so their first night was spent sitting by the Common Room fire and talking. Halfway through Hermione's story of the timeturner back in Third Year, they were interrupted by shrieks coming from the direction of the portrait hole.

Looking over, Rose was delighted to see Draco walk in. She smiled shyly at him as he strode over to the couch.

"Oi, Malfoy, this is the i Gryffindor /i Common Room. How'd you get in?" asked Ron.

"I got the password off a twitchy First Year. Quite easy, really. You all should teach your little ones not to give the passwords away to strangers-no matter how dashing and handsome they may be." He shot Rose a wink. Hermione rolled her eyes and Ginny gagged. "Anyway, I've come to see if Rose would like to go for a walk and perhaps a broom ride?"

"Well, we were in the middle of a story…" Rose said, glancing at Hermione, who had her eyebrows raised in a 'don't even think about saying no' kind-of way. "But I suppose we can finish it later, yeah?"

"Of course we can," Ginny said, practically pushing Rose off the couch and toward Malfoy.

With a backward glance, she saw Hermione and Ron nuzzling noses, and Ginny and Harry biting their lips and stealing looks up toward the boys' dormitory.

'Hah, looks like they'll all be busy soon enough,' she thought with a smile.

After a tour of the Astronomy Tower, in which Draco pushed her up against a wall near the window and snogged her senseless, and a quick fly on Draco's Firebolt 2001, where Rose sat in front of Draco and pressed herself against him provocatively while he whispered in her ear, he lead her on a stroll up to what was called the "Room of Requirement" (something about a room appearing out of nowhere to fit the user's needs?).

Three little paces back and forth, and a door appeared.

Draco lead her through into a room that looked very much like the little spot in the woods they had visited earlier, except that this time the sky sparkled with stars and there was a fuzzy fur blanket in the grass.

Draco sat down in the middle of the blanket and drawled, "I though we could look at the stars. I've never been out near the lake at night before." He patted the ground next to him.

Rose licked her lips unconsciously and strolled in. It wasn't that she was some kind of wanton slut, and she drew the line at totally loosing her decency… but the notion of a topless Draco was incredibly alluring…

"This is quite romantic, Mr. Malfoy," she toyed with him. "But how can I know that you won't try to take advantage of me… all alone in the middle of the woods at night?"

But, he was no fool. With a sly grin, he teased back. "Well, I'll try to keep my hands to myself."

"You'd better not," Rose said, sitting down and straddling Draco's lap. She took his hands and placed them on her bare thighs.

What is it about him? she asked herself. This is so not me. It's like I can't get enough of him.

She stared into his eyes, which were nearly black with lust, and ground herself gently into him. He reacted immediately and nearly ripped off buttons his crisp white Oxford as he hasted to pull it over his head.

Whatever game they were playing was now over. Draco brought one hand up and twisted it into her short black hair, while his other slid further up her leg and under her skirt, pulling her closer.

Their lips met, mouths already open, and, for the next few hours, they lost themselves in each other completely.

They never did get around to much stargazing, and it was nearly 3 a.m. when Rose ambled back through the portrait hole, looking quite dishevelled. Hermione and Ginny had waited up.

"So? What happened?" Ginny asked with a wide grin.

"You didn't…. did you?" Hermione said, noticing the blush creep up Rose's chest behind her misbuttoned shirt.

"No, no… we didn't, but he is absolutely amazing," Rose sighed. "Girls, I know this sounds strange, and you mustn't tell a soul, but I think I love him!"

Ginny squealed with delight, and Hermione's eyes suddenly became watery. "Oh, honey, that's wonderful!"

"Now, sit down right here and tell us i everything /i !"

It was a late night for the girls from Gryffindor Tower, and it wasn't long before most everyone knew of Rose and Draco's relationship. Girls were jealous of Rose's luck at taming the sleek Slytherin prince, and the boys were sure to look away quickly when Draco caught them staring at his beautiful girlfriend.

The next few months passed in a frenzy of homework and last minute wedding disasters.

Harry was more than grateful when Rose managed to calm down Ginny and Hermione when news came that the special ice nymphs they had ordered were stuck in a blizzard in the Artic.

'She is a lifesaver, that one,' he though, silently thanking Merlin that he wasn't involved in any of the preparations. He had long ago offered to pay for anything and everything the girls had wanted, and, after many arguments, the Grangers has agreed to split the cost with him, and Mrs. Weasley had agreed on one condition: that she be in charge of cooking all the food.

Soon the Christmas holidays were upon them. The castle, upon Dumbledore's orders, was emptied save for wedding guests and attendants-which was not particularly difficult, seeing as how nearly every student had already for the holiday.

Despite every precaution, a few Gryffindors had found out about the nuptials and, completely oblivious o the "age factor," as Hermione called it, were ecstatic and insisted they be invited. Thus, the wedding list comprised of Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall and Snape (albeit reluctantly); the Weasleys, the Grangers, Remus Lupin, Tonks, Rose, Draco, Neville, Seamus, Dean, Lavender, the Patil twins, Colin and Dennis Creevy, Michael Corner and Lee Jordan.

The entirety of the Order of the Phoenix was invited, but certain members had to very regretfully decline because of their assignments and not wanting to blow their covers.

The Durselys, of course, were invited but didn't even bother to respond. Harry knew they weren't coming before he even sent Hedwig off with their invitation.

'Well, bugger them,' he thought ruefully. 'This is going to be the event of the millennium… Just wait until ol' Rita Skeeter finds out what we did behind her back!' That thought made him laugh out loud, drawing a strange look from Ron. He explained, and both sank into fits of laughter.

The morning of the wedding came very quickly. Rose was the self-appointed coordinator of the day, seeing as how none of the couples were allowed to see each other before the ceremony. Well, that and Hermione and Ginny were going completely nutters.

A week ago, Hermione had made a decree that she and Ginny needed to have bridesmaids and flower girls because they simply couldn't walk behind each other down the aisle, like maids of honour were supposed to do. Thus, in a flurry of taffeta and satin, Rose and Lavender had become bridesmaids and the Patil twins were the flower maids, as they preferred to be called. (Silently, Rose, sighed a great relief that she and Lavender weren't the flower maids-she'd never get over the teasing.)

Thus, dressed in a long, sleeveless ivy-green satin dress and matching robes, her short hair poofed and pretty, and her makeup done up in just right, Rose bustled over to the grooms' quarters, which were in an unused classroom on the first floor, to check on the boys.

Opening the door, she found Harry struggling with the buttons on his shirt and Draco trying to explain to Ron how to proper fix a bow tie. Stifling her laughter, she cleared her throat loudly, and all three looked up at her in surprise.

Harry and Ron said quick, desperate "Hello"s, but Draco stopped talking entirely and just looked her, his mouth open slightly.

"My dear," he said, bowing before her, "You are quite possibly the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. You know, it's not proper etiquette to look better than the brides," he added in a whisper while lifting her hand to his lips.

"Well, thank you. You are absolutely dashing yourself," she said with a smile. "Save me a dance at the reception?"

"If we even go," he teased quietly. She batted his arm playfully and turned toward Harry and Ron, who looked nearly on the verge of breakdowns.

"All right, you two," she said. "What can I help with?"

Ten minutes later, she stepped back to admire her handiwork.

Harry and Ron looked very sophisticated in crisp white tuxedo shirts and pants. Each worn a perfectly fixed white bow tie and a single white carnation in the top buttonhole of his black dress robes, which shone slightly in the pale light of the tent.

Harry swayed slightly on the spot before pronouncing, "Whoever said that your wedding day was supposed to be the best day of your life has obviously never been married."

They all laughed.

Mr. Weasley strode in and announced that the wedding was about to start, and Rose bade the gentlemen her goodbyes and headed back to the Gryffindor Common Room, which was serving as the brides' quarters.

She pushed through the portrait hole (which had been magically enlarged for the wedding day) and gasped.

Hermione and Ginny were standing in the middle of the room, surrounded by their mothers and maids, who themselves were stepping back to admire their handiwork.

The brides dresses were such a pure white that Rose almost had to shield her eyes. Each wore a tasteful, embroidered corset over a flowing lace and satin skirt with a tiny train, and a pair of simple satin shoes. Covering their heads were white headbands with delicately stitched blue flowers and veils of white lace cascading in every direction.

Rose sniffed and wiped away tears as she walked over to the flower table and handed each girl her bouquets of white roses and ivy. "You two are the most beautiful brides I have ever seen," she gushed, once again wiping away her tears. "You are my best friends, and I love you both so much!"

"Ohh!" each girl cried as they collapsed into each other's arms.

Mrs. Granger checked her watch as the girls separated. "Hermione dear, it's almost time to go. Are you two both ready?"

Trembling a little and checking her makeup in the mirror, Hermione said, "Yes I think so. Hold on a second. Something old ok that's the engagement ring… Something new is the dress… Something borrowed is the shoes… Oh no! Something blue! I don't have anything blue!" Mrs. Granger calming reminded her that there were blue flowers in her headpiece. "Yes, of course. I knew that…" Hermione muttered.

"Well, then," Ginny said with a radiant smile, "Let's get this show on the road!"

"You may now kiss the brides," Dumbledore announced, and tumultuous applause filled the courtyard, which had been charmed to stay magically warm.

The sun was setting over the horizon, sending great big streaks of orange, pink, red and gold over the blue sky as the two couples warmly kissed before leading the small wedding party into the Great Hall for a feast and a night of dancing.

Dinner was utterly fantastic—Italian wedding soup, roast duck and a towering wedding cake at least 6 feet high, to say the least. The couples each took a turn gliding slowly across the Great Hall, then beckoned the other guests to join them, Colin Creevey snapping picture the whole time.

Harry took a small break from dancing a while later and looked out over the hall. Pavarti (or was it Padma?) was dancing gaily with Seamus, and the other twin was casually talking to Lee in the corner. A glowering Snape was being led across the dance floor by Professor McGonagall, and Harry stifled a laugh.

Tonks was dancing with both Fred and George at the same time, and Remus and Mrs. Weasley were all smiles glided across the floor.

Harry watched as Draco extended a hand to Hermione and graciously led her off in a stiff waltz, while Ron was enjoying a fun dance with Lavender. Then, he felt a tap on his shoulder.

"Harry, would you do me the pleasure?" Rose smiled at him.

"But, of course," he said, holding out his crooked elbow. The two had become very good friends since Rose had turned up for the sorting, and Harry reflected, not for the first time, how lucky he was to be surrounded by so many wonderful people on his wedding day.

That though, of course, was replaced a second later when he glimpsed Ginny (easily the most beautiful woman in the room if he did say so himself) enjoying a dance and laugh with her brother Bill. 'I'll have to steal her away to the Room of Requirement after the reception. After all, I bet that wedding dress looks better on the floor…"

He was just pulling Rose into his arms to begin their dance, when suddenly he felt a great tightness in his chest.

He gasped for breath and let go of Rose quickly. The tightness faded but left a sweeping nauseated feeling in its wake. He felt around blindly for a chair to sit in, crashing in to other couples on his way and making quite a commotion.

Finding something finally, he felt another throb of nausea.

His last sight before he passed out was Rose collapsing in the middle of the dance floor.

i A/N Hee hee evil Izzie she left you on a cliffy muah ha ha /i 


	6. where the place

b Where the place… /b 

i A/N: Oh wow! Thanks to all you happy reviewers! And, thanks to b amber /b , she rocks! She is a wonderful beta and deserves constant recognition just for putting up with my appalling spelling, not even including anything else! And, I have a new person to thankcome on, wave to the readers b passionflower89 /b , yes you! /i 

disclaimer: I own nothing but the lightning lollipops cuz at the moment rose has a mind of her own!

(Warning: this chapter is slightly racy. you no liky. you no readie. simple really.)

Harry blinked a few times before sitting bolt upright in bed. Being no stranger to black outs, he quickly got his bearings.

He was in the hospital wing, bed in the far corner, with the curtains drawn. And what was this? He still had his tux still on… Tux! Oh, no, the wedding!

Frantically, he looked around and breathed a sigh of relief to see Ginny curled up in the closest chair to his bed, still wrapped up in her wedding gown, her eyes red and puffy. He started to get out of bed when Madame Pomphrey bustled in and nearly forced anti-nausea and rejuvenation potions down his throat.

His gagging brought Ginny around.

"Oh, Harry," she sobbed as he drew her close. "I was so worried! Wh-what happened? When you and Rose collapsed"

"Rose!" Harry cried out. He had completely forgotten that Rose had collapsed as well. "Is she alright?"

"She'll be fine. She has a nasty bump on her head, and they haven't been able to revive her fully yet, but she looks to be OK. Madame Pomphrey gave her an anti-concussion potion," Ginny said, wiping her tears.

"Where are Ron and Hermione?"

"Madame Pomfrey sent them away a bit ago. They wanted to be here, but Professor Dumbledore insisted that you and Rose were going to be perfectly fine"

"Wait a tickhow long have we been here?"

"Nearly two hours." Ginny hugged close to him again.

He sunk back down onto his hospital bed. "I've been… we've been… Oh, Ginny, I'm so sorry. This was supposed to be a magical nightour wedding night. I'm sorry I've gone and ruined it."

"Harry, it's not your fault. And…well… it's not over i completely /i ," Ginny said, biting her lip. "Professor Dumbledore i did /i say that when you were awake you could go… If you are feeling OK, maybe we could save it after all?"

He smiled at his bride and pulled back the curtains. Across from him, Rose was still lying on her hospital bed, and, surprisingly, Draco was sitting nearby.

"He doesn't want to admit it," Ginny whispered, "but he's been here longer than I have. He actually carried her up here after she fell."

Harry could see the uncomfortable look on Draco's face. It must be hard, he thought, to suddenly i really /i care about someone after all those years of being alone.

Harry walked over to the bed, his stride strengthening with each step, until he reached Draco's chair. He put a hand on his shoulder, and Draco flinched but didn't shake him off. His eyes never left Rose's waxen face.

"Potter, what happened? Did you do something to her?" His voice barely rose above a whisper.

"Look Malfoy, I know you are upset, but I collapsed, too, remember?"

Draco heaved a deep sigh, as if it took more effort than he wanted. "I'm sorry, I'm just… she just…I…" His voice trailed and cracked slightly.

"It's OK, mate. Just don't leave her." Harry squeezed his friend's shoulder. "She'll want to see that you're here when she wakes up."

Ginny gave Harry's arm a tug and, bidding good night to Madame Pomfrey (who did not look at all pleased that her patient was leaving so soon) and Draco, they took the quickest path Ginny could find up to the Room of Requirement.

Harry would have argued with her to be gentle with himafter all, he i had /i just came toif only he hadn't wanted her so badly.

Shaking away the dull headache he'd had since he woke up, he slammed the door behind them, barely noticing the deep burgundy of the walls, the cackling fireplace and the rich décor. All he saw was a large, soft bed, and Ginny, crawling cat-like on top of it, wearing nothing but a slinky white satin slip and nearly purring at him.

'How did she get that dress off so quickly?' he vaguely thought as she stretched out and beckoned him forward. Without reaching for his wand he vanished his clothes save for his boxers and crawled up with her.

Their lips met and their bodies collapsed onto each other's in a searing embrace. Soon, their remaining clothes lay discarded on the floor, and Harry bent back to look at Ginny.

"My god, you are the most fantastic… I'm the luckiest bloke…" He got no more words out as she pulled him back down, shifting her weight so he could claim her as his own.

She cried out in pain, but it was sweet pain, he told himself. He could feel her body quivering around him, and he lost himself in the feeling as she begged him for more…

'This is bloody daft,' Draco thought miserably. If this is what truly caring for people was likefeeling your heart break and knowing you can do nothing to help themthen being in love was bloody overrated.

'Well, at least this proves that I can still love. What a disappointment it will be to my father that he couldn't squash it all out of me.'

He had watched Potter lead Rose out onto the floor, thanking Merlin that the beautiful girl with impossibly violet eyes was his… Then his world had fallen still the moment he saw her collapse. He had rushed to her side immediately, knocking down nearly everyone that stood between them.

He had been nearly frantic when she wouldn't open her eyes… his only choice was to carry her up to the hospital wing. Since then, the world had blurred and, despite assurances from that daft old man that she would be fine, he hadn't left her side. That moment in the groom's tent, seeing her in that dress looking the most beautiful he had ever seen her, feeling the love course through him like lava, seemed like months ago, not hours(in the origional there was absoult confusion it was about how I felt at the time of writing this hee hee)

And, now, looking at her lying helplessly on the bed, Draco was consumed by another odd emotionguilt.

Tonight had, well, been the night. He had a romantic plan in place to seduce her and shag her senseless, as he had wanted to do for so long. And, looking at her on the bedher porcelain skin gleaming and her pouty lips intoxicatinghe felt his manhood swell appreciatively, and for that he was disgusted in himself.

'Can't even keep it in check around her when she is ill,' he thought, silently berating himself for his thoughts of kissing her breasts and stomach and

'No,' he shook his head. 'Think about something else… Think about Snape and potions…'

Wait, hadn't they just snogged on the Potion master's desk after hours a few nights ago? It had been so hot and naughty… he had pushed her back on the desk and tasted her, touched her, and he could still hear her appreciative moans, even as her thighs closed tightly around his ears… And when she had returned the favor, it had taken every ounce of his self control not to grab her up and push into her right there…

He groaned and shifted his weight, making room for his throbbing erection. 'But,' he reasoned truthfully. 'There's more to it that being physical. I love her, and I… I want to mar'

He was pulled out of his reverie by a rustle of bed covers. He looked up and saw Rose's eyes flicker before opening groggily.

He shot to her side and took her hand gently. "Rose! Are you alright?"

He watched as her violet eyes came in focus, and, in her familiar caramel voice, said "I… I think so. What happened? Where am I?"

"You are in the hospital wing, love. No, don't move too much. I'll get Madame Pomfrey, hold on.'

Not bothering to move, he simply called out to the old nurse, who appeared behind the curtain immediately, carrying several large vials of healing potions.

As Rose swallowed each concoction, pulling faces after each one, Draco slowly brought her up to speed on Harry's condition and what he had seen at the reception, leaving out how he had carried her himself. 'Don't want to sound too desperate, now do I?'

After another hour of observation and several assurances from Rose that, despite the bump on her head (which had gone down but was still bruised and hurt when she moved to fast), she was fine and would like to sleep in her own bed tonight, if that was OK, the couple was finally released back to their dorms.

Walking back to Gryffindor Tower slowly, Draco held her close and spoke very little, save for a few inquiries as to how she was feeling.

Clearing his throat in front of the portrait hole, he said, "Rose, I… well, I was worried about you tonight. I thought for a few minutes that you…" his voice cracked slightly for the second time tonight, but he didn't care.

"Draco, I know, it's OK. Thank you for staying with me, I … it really means a lot." She looked uncomfortably at her feet, then back up into his eyes. "I want to tell you something. I was going to do it after the reception, when we were alone, but I think you need to know that I…" she took a deep breath, "that I love you."

Draco exhaled a breath he didn't know he had been holding, and pulled Rose as close as he could and kissed her deeply. His mind was drowning in delirious thoughts as their tongues dragged against each other's.

He pulled back after a moment and, mustering all the emotion he had left, said "Rose, I've loved you since you kissed me in the Entrance Hall, I think. There is no one else I'd rather… It's more than just…"

At a loss for words, he pulled her close again, and he moaned into her mouth when he felt her fingers slip into his hair and tug him closer.

She pulled him into the deserted Common Room and was leading him over to the couch when suddenly he stopped.

'Draco, please, I…," she whispered in his ear as he gently pulled back.

He held her hands and, looking into her lusty eyes, said with more conviction than he felt, "No, not tonight love, you need your rest." He marveled internally at his poise, and at his ability to resist her wet lips as she pouted seductively.

Then, he pulled her forward and, in his most sexy and confident voice, growled into her ear, "When I make you mine, love, you'll need to be back at full strength. Trust me." He felt her shudder against his chest. "Now, get your sweet arse up to bed before I take you back to the hospital wing." (heeheehee)

And, with that, she smiled gently, kissed him lightly on the lips and walked safely back up to the girls dormitories.

Harry woke up in a tangle of sheets, feeling rested and stronger than he had in weeks.

Prizing himself out his wife's (his wifewow, that was going to take getting used to) sleeping arms, he silently donned his tuxedo pants and shirt.

Leaving Ginny a sweet note explaining that he had gone to talk to Dumbledore about last night and that he would see her at lunch, he covered her up with the discarded sheets, kissed her forehead and set off for his room.

The castle was very quiet, and this was how Harry liked it best. He wandered the familiar halls with a smile on his face and thought about how his children might one day be roaming these halls as students. So pleasant was the image of a little red-haired boy with bright green eyes that he vowed he would see this future, no matter what the costs.

After a hot shower, he changed into his favorite pair of ratty jeans, a white tee and jumper, thankful not to have to wear that stuffy tux anymore. He decided to have a bit of breakfast to help gather his thoughts before going to meet the headmaster.

The Great Hall was deserted when he walked in. 'Looks like most of the wedding guests have either left already or are having a bit of a lie-in,' he thought, sitting down in his usual spot at the Gryffindor table, though it hardly mattered.

"Ah, Harry! Feeling better, I imagine?"

Harry turned and saw the headmaster stroll in from a side entrance. He was wearing long black robes with embroidered twinkling silver stars and moons, and his half-moon spectacles were resting lightly his long nose.

"Yes, thank you Professor," Harry said. "I was wondering, do you have a few moments to talk to me about"

"About why you and Miss Westlock fainted last night at your reception?"

Harry smiled. How was it that Dumbledore seemed to know everything that happened within the walls of his castle? "Yes, sir."

"Of course. Please, do finish your breakfast. I will meet you at my office in 20 minutes; the password is 'Lightning Lollipops.' I will send word for Miss Westlock to meet you there, as well."

"Thank you, Professor." Harry couldn't help but notice that the usually nonchalant headmaster seemed uncharacteristically tense, as if he were bursting to tell a grand secret. Turning back to his ham and eggs, Harry found that he was no longer hungry; his stomach had filled with dread.

'If it is enough to make Dumbledore nervous, it must be bad,' he though as he slowly meandered to the grand stone gargoyles.

"Lightning Lollipops," he said, and the wall creaked open revealing the familiar spiral staircase.

Despite his nerves, Harry couldn't help but chuckle at the password. Lightning Lollipops were one of Fred and George's inventionsnasty little sweets that charged you up with static electricity for a half hour, letting you shock anyone who came within 5 feet of you. Harry had, of course, tried them out last summer, and he had to admit that it made de-gnoming the garden a lot more interesting. (a/n yay lightning lollipops rock!)

He could still hear Ron and Ginny's cheers and laughter ringing in his ears when the doorway once again creaked open and Rose walked up to the office landing.

She had a pair of dark jeans and a long plum cardigan wrapped tightly around her, as if she were cold. Her black hair was clean and combed straight.

There was an awkward silence between them. Harry noticed the darkening bruise on her forehead and immediately felt guilty.

"I'm sorry, Rose, I don't know what happened…," Harry said.

"Don't apologize Harry, it wasn't your fault," she gently touched the bruise and winced. "It's not as bad as it looks. I'm just curious what happened. Why do you think Dumbledore called us both here?"

"Because, Miss Westlock, it seems that there is more to what happened last night than meets the eye."

Neither had noticed Professor Dumbledore enter the circular office, and both students stood and greeted him.

"Please, sit down," he began. "There is much to say. Tell me Harry, have you chose to tell anyone of the prophesy?"

"Iwell…" Harry blushed. "No, sir."

Dumbledore turned to Rose. "My dear, do you know the nature of prophesies?"

"Yes sir, I think so," she said, more than a little confused. Harry couldn't blame her. "I believe they are kept in the Ministry of Magic, in a large vault. They are recorded and only available to those of whom the prophesy is about."

"Very good. Now, a few years ago, there was an incident at the Ministry of Magic resulting in the exposure and destruction of one particular prophesyone known only to Harry and myself. But, I'm afraid that it has recently come to light that this prophesy involves you, as well."

Harry's mouth fell open. "But Professor, how"

"Harry, all will be explained in due time. Now, Rose, I am going to reveal the prophesy to you, but I must ask that you pay close attention and not repeat it to anyone outside of this office." She nodded.

Harry watched numbly as Dumbledore extracted the silvery memory strand, place it in the bowl and swirl it gently. He closed his eyes and bowed his head as Trelawny's roughened voice filled the chamber menacingly.

i "_The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... _

_Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... _

_And the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... _

_And either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives... _

_The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies..." /i _

Harry glanced up only when he heard Rose say, "But, Professor, I don't understand. I see how this involved Harry and Voldemort, but I..."

"Ah, but therein lies the great mystery. I believe we have inadvertently finally found the power." He opened his arms, gesturing to Rose. "I believe it is you."

Silence thicker than London fog filled the room.

Harry spoke up finally, his curiosity overpowering the feeling of nakedness he had felt to have the prophesy revealed. "How do you figure, professor? I only just met Rose at the beginning of this term. And what power can she have that you don't already know about?"

Dumbledore stood up, like a teacher about to give a lecture.

"There is an ancient magic at play here, an occurrence so old that Voldemort does not know of its existence. It is called i Anima Didymoi /i , or 'Soul Twins.' It is extremely rare, and I must admit that I have only ever studied itthat is, before today.

"The i Anima Didymoi /i occurs when a soul is created that is too vast, too largely powerful, to inhabit only one body. Thus, it is split between two. While each contains separate personality and character traits, the halves strive to be reconnected, much like two magnets pulling their corporeal bodies toward each other. The power, however, is so great that it can easily overwhelm those not prepared for its current. What occurred last night on the dance floor was the prolonged contact needed for the soul to temporarily reconnect with it's other half."

"Wait a second," Harry's patience had grown into anger. That's all he needed was another ancient force acting on his life against his will. "So, are you saying that Rose and I are soul mates?"

Dumbledore chuckled. "No, Harry, not in the sentimental muggle sense. I assure you, your relationship to Miss Weasleyor, should I say, Mrs. Potteris not in question. This is more of a familial bond, as if you and Miss Westlock were fraternal twins. Brother and sister, if you will, but not by blood relations."

"But," Rose asked, leaning forward in her chair. "How did it happen? Why were Harry and I chosen?"

"It is related to the exact time the soul is split. I assume, Miss Westlock, that your birthday is July 31, 1980, at 5:49 a.m., same as Harry's?"

Both Rose and Harry's mouths fell open in shock. "W-well, yes, it is."

"There you have it." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled, and Harry noted that he looked quite excited. "Now, this discovery is of the utmost importance and secrecy. You may involve Hermione, Ron, Ginny and Mr. Malfoy, but they must understand the precautions that are being taken to keep this information secret. Should you choose to tell them, their lives will be in dangerfar more than they ever have been before."

Harry and Rose nodded solemnly, and she asked, "So, Professor, we need to find a way to harness the power of the combined soul and use is against Voldemort?"

"Precisely, Miss Westlock. I have already arranged for Professor Tonks to assist you in the endeavor. You will begin tomorrow."

As they left the headmaster's office, Rose was so full of questions and answers that she needed some time to sort through them all. Hermione was the one person she knew who could help her.

"Harry? Would you like to tell the others about this?" she asked tentatively.

"I think we should, Rose. They are our best friends and they deserve to know. Besides, I know you wouldn't know about this, but they have risked their lives for me so many times that I have lost count."

"Good. I'll find Hermione and Ron, you find Ginny and Draco, and we'll meet in the Room of Requirement in a half hour?"

He agreed, and they set off in separate directions.

Rose wound her way back to the Gryffindor Common Room and found Ron and Hermione entangled on the couch, rubbing noses and whispering lovingly.

Despite her urgent news, Rose stopped to smile at the pair.

'Husband and wife, imagine that. I wonder what it feels like. I wonder if Draco would ever want to…'

She stopped herself mid-thought as the devastatingly handsome blond strode into her mind. She vaguely remembered last night and the promise he had made about, well, rocking her world, so to speak, and shivered. She could hardly keep herself in check these days when he was around. She started to burn deeply when she thought of the other night in the potion's lab…

She wiped her mind clean and cleared her throat a bit before stepping closer to the canoodling couple. Ron and Hermione looked over and grinned widely before noticing her serious expression.

"What's wrong?" Hermione said immediately.

"There is something very important that Harry and I have to tell you both. Harry is getting Ginny and Draco, and we are all meeting in the Room of Requirement in 20 minutes."

They sprang up quickly and nearly ran to her side, but she stopped them with her hand. "No, wait. You guys have to know that, by coming along, you are agreeing not to speak to another soul about this. It could mean your lives."

Ron looked at her and very solemnly crossed his fingers over his heart. "We would die for you and Harry. Let's go."

When they all had assembled around the round table in the middle of the room, Rose watched as Harry shut the door behind them, sealing them in. Hermione had taken the seat between Ginny and Ron, and had parchment and quill ready to begin taking notes. 'Thank Merlin she is here,' Rose thought.

Draco had chosen to sit next to Rose and had placed his arms around her protectively. She snuggled into him, enjoying the warm of his touch, before also rising and standing next to Harry.

"What's up?" Ron asked immediately.

Taking a long look at each other, Harry and Rose slowly explained to them the occurrence of i Anima Didymoi /i . They didn't pause to answer questions, but ploughed on as if the quicker they said it, the better off they were.

When they had finished, Rose looked a Draco, her eyes silently pleading him to understand. His expression was blank, and her heart tightened.

"OK, so, on all accounts, it seems that this is really good news!" Hermione said, with awed reverence in her voice. "I read about i Anima Didymoi /i in an ancient text last year, but to actually see it…"

"Yeah, it's fantastic," Harry said sarcastically. He plopped down next to Ginny.

"No, wait, Hermione is right," she said. "This is the answer. If you can both harness this power, you can defeat Tom for good. And Tonks will definitely help; she is very talented."

"And, of course, we'll all help you," Ron chimed in. Rose and Harry smiled gratefully, then glanced over at Draco, who hadn't spoken yet.

He looked at each of them in turn, then lingered on Rose.

"Well," Draco drawled. "I can't say I'm happy about the time you'll be spending with my girl, Potter, but I'll certainly offer up any help I can. Oh, and Hermione is absolutely correct. This i is /i good news."

Rose nearly melted back into his arms.

The meeting wrapped with promises from each to do some quiet research on i Anima Didymoi /i and meet back in a few days.

Hermione and Ron lagged behind to claim the deserted Room of Requirement, and Ginny and Harry skipped away for an impromptu broom ride.

Rose and Draco silently walked back to the Gryffindor Common Room, holding hands and not speaking much.

To be honest, Draco thought he had taken the news surprisingly well. He had, of course, been hoping for a mid-morning snog with Rose, and the detour into ancient magical curses and twin souls had been unexpected, but the idea that, finally, there was a plan to rid the world of Voldemort, perked his sodden spirits dramatically.

'Perhaps, this could mean the beginning of a new life for me,' he wished. 'the end of Voldemort's reign will also mean the end of my father's reign over me. At last, I can be free.'

When they had entered the Common Room, Rose began to apologize for being so much trouble, but he quickly cut her off.

"Love, don't say another word. I am proud to be in love with you."

She smiled her first real smile of the day at him, and he pulled her down onto his lap in front of the Common Room fire. They spent a few minutes quietly talking about various theories of how she and Harry could control the power, but their closeness was intoxicating him.

"You must understand the power that you possess inside of you, and how much us Slytherins desire power…" He nuzzled her neck, and she giggled. "Of course, that's not all that is making me desire you. It's your smell…" (kiss) "your voice…" (nibble) "your laugh…" (suck).

"Mmmhmm…," he felt her grind her bottom into his lap, and his response was almost immediate.

"Now, Mr. Malfoy, I seem to remember something you said last night, about me needing to be at full strengthseems like you are already there…"

'If she doesn't stop this, I'm going to bloody burst my pants,' he thought.

It only took him one more grind for him to pull her underneath him and attack her mouth. She whimpered and wound her hands into his hair again, a move that he had grown to like. A lot.

With a deft move, he spread her legs and settled between them, his hands slowly taking off her cardigan and her shirt underneath as she stripped him of his robes and collared shirt.

Draco was quickly overheating and needed relief soon. He groaned and pulled her on top of him and undid the top button of his pants, a task she readily took up when she felt him doing it.

He felt his pants slide off and her hot mouth envelope him. He groaned and thrust into her. 'God, she was good at this. Get her going and I can hardly stop…' But he knew he needed to, if this was going where he wanted it to.

Pulling back slightly, he groaned, "Love, you had better get me to a bedroom quick or I'm going to do something I shouldn't do in the Common Room."

She grabbed his hand and tugged him up toward the stairs to the girl's dorm, pausing every few steps to drop kisses on his lips.

Once she had closed and secured the door, he pushed her onto the bed, growling and tearing at her jeans to get them off. He had slipped her knickers off with her jeans, and his hands and mouth quickly found that she was ready for him. Her moans were driving him crazy.

Pulling back up to her mouth, he asked in his sexiest drawl, "Are you sure you are ready for this?"

She barely had the breath to beg, "Mmm… yes…"

They had already discussed how neither of them were virgins, so he wasted no pretense. (A/N HUH!draco I can understrand but ROSE!she my charechtor but this is a shock. the wench!)

She was tight and wet, and she knew what she was doing. Her hips bucked and swayed with every thrust, and he nearly came in surprise when she deftly flipped him onto his back and straddled him.

But, passivity was not part of his plan. He sat up and grabbed her arse, a move that nearly forced a climax out of them both. He slipped a hand between them, rubbing at her gently.

She threw her head back and, gasping, clenched around him so tightly that he couldn't hold back any more. Her body milked him, and they collapsed on the bed in a heap of limbs and sheets.

"Good lord, woman, where did you learn to do that?" he gasped as she slid off him.

"Like that, did you? I should ask you the same thing. That hand move was brilliant."

"Come here, you little minx," he laughed, pulling her toward him and kissing her deeply. "You know, I love you."

"Love you too, Draco," she whispered as he covered them both the bed sheets. They spent the rest of the day lounging in bed.


	7. upon the heath

Upon the heath…

_A/N wow even more reviews I tell you now this is so nice! Thank you to all my reviewers and I mean all not just one or two oh you precious reviewers you, And once again I do not own Harry Potter goes to sit in corner so she can break down and cry_

_Oh yes I'm so sorry about the major time span between chapters my internet broke cuz my brother got a virus on the computer its only just working and it still keeps breaking so my chapters might take a while to get sorted but it shouldn't be as long as the last gap again sorry to everyone!_

Harry was sitting in the window watching the thestrals above the forest although they were usually seen as bad omens since he found out what they were Harry found them oddly calming

He had so much to think about and so much to do yet he was only 17 how many people in the world had this much to do at the age of 17 but he could deal with it maybe not before now but now he could turning around he saw the pillar holding up the fragile shell of his life giving it strength and supporting it her red hair was glowing in the early sunlight the sunrise brightening up her features and bathing her in her halo of warmth and radiance

He wished he could stay and just watch her sleeping all day but he couldn't he had to work on a way to stop the power hurting him and rose and how he could access it for the greater good. The greater good strange way of putting it so far it hadn't done him much good he had lost some of the closest people to him through the "greater good" but then again the quicker he got this sorted the quicker life would return to normal… whatever that was…

Rose woke to find a warm soft pillow under her head it wasn't un till she noticed it breathing that she realized it wasn't a pillow or in fact anything of the like. It was Draco; then again she was sure that is chest was a much better pillow than any other. she wanted to stay here all day but she had to learn how to save the universe or something like that…

Damn lessons she wanted to stay in bed but she had to get up but when she tried she found she was firmly attached to dracos arms, not that she was complaining, but it made it harder to do other things such as go get breakfast

"Draco…hunny wake up" she whispered

"Morning beautiful" said Draco with a very very uncharacteristic goofy grin on his face she would have taken a photo but alas had no camera

"Can you let go I've got to get up I have to practice my mind tequniques"

"No. More sleep." and with that he fell asleep arms still clamped around rose.

Well that was until she tickled him at which point he let go allowing rose to quickly escape from his arms she quickly got dressed kissed draco good bye and left.

'I don't think it would ever be possible to get bored of her' thought draco before falling asleep for a minute until he realized falling asleep with out rose wasn't quite the same so he gave up and got up to meet rose for breakfast.

"Hi rose ready to learn how to stop ourselves fainting" Harry said as he placed himself in the seat opposite rose.

" Yep if you are."

"I suppose"

"No Ginny today?" rose inquired

"No draco today" said Harry sarcastically

"Point taken"

"I thought I'd just let her sleep I'm not going to be able to stay with her today anyway"

"Where are we going for this by the way"?

"I don't know tonks said she'd pick us up"

Just the draco came in through the doors and sort of skipped over and sat next to rose Harry found draco skipping very disturbing in every sense of the word but draco stopped skipping (or at least walking joyfully) went to eat breakfast.

Unfortunately for draco just at that moment tonks came over and told Rose and Harry that they need to be finished breakfast in a few minute as thy had to go out of school grounds for their lessons so they hurried up breakfast said good bye to draco and left after tonks.

Now you two have to realize what you are doing is a very special difficult and potentially dangerous brand of magic I must warn both of you that whatever may happen if you try this is out of my control" tonks warned in a very unusual voice it didn't seam like tonks at all but it was very important that she said this "if you wish to back out now is your last chance"

Both Harry and Rose looked at each other and shook their heads "heck with everything I've done already I don't think it will make much difference if I do one more thing"

"Yes but this is slightly different to anything else you have done were you fully briefed on the implications"

"Err I don't think so" said rose her stress bringing out her French accent more than usual.

"Ok if this makes you change your mind then I understand"

"If you have connected souls than your basic emotions will be prevalent to each other although it will not affect day today life it might be as well to remember that also if in a state of concentration one of you should be able to contact the other."

"Well those are both positive what's the problem" asked Harry.

"Let me finish Harry Kay"

"Sorry you were saying," said rose

The problem is that if you did join souls you would effectively be able to feel any physical pain the other is going through as that is one of the stronger senses that a person feels a natural instinct "

"Explain please" said Harry

"Ok say Rose tripped over and cut her leg al though you would not be cut you would feel the same pain because you are still connected to the place where that pain is coming from"

"Ok" said rose "I can live with that"

"Unfortunately the highest risk is your life's if one of you dies so will the other"

"But why?"

"Because the soul prefers to stay as a whole while it is trapped in living bodies it is in and environment in which it can survive if the body releases the soul in death the other half cannot stay on the earth because the first half ha no where to stay"

"Ahh right that might change things" said Harry "I don't mind that much but if rose…"

"No Harry I don't mind either we will be safe I trust you" Harry felt strengthened by her trust

"Any who the good thing is that this means you once joined would be immune to dementor attacks so that's a good thing"

"Ok I'm lost…"

"I think we all are stated rose"

"So where are we going to practice"

"We have to go to the heath outside hogsmede"

"Why?"

"Better concentration of magic apparently that's why they built the village there it was used for many different sorts of ceremonies like the winter solestice and summer equinox"

"Oh ok then"

"You sure you want to go?"

"Positive"

Tonks looked at them for a moment "then come with me"

heath 

• **Noun** chiefly Brit. an area of open uncultivated land, typically on sandy soil and covered with heather, gorse, and coarse grasses

I have my g.c.s.e's in less than a week so yeah you can understand if I don't update soon thanks for reading 

_Oh and bye they way I have anew website called __ and I need a bit of help so if any of you readers are writers too can you help!_


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